


Until the Carnival Comes Back to Town

by FeralScribe



Series: Widomauk Week 2019 Prompts [15]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb is a Sweetheart, Don’t copy to another site, Flowers, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Mollymauk Tealeaf, Genderfluid Mollymauk Tealeaf, Goodbyes, Modern AU, Other, The fluffiest fluff, Widomauk Week, widomauk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 13:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19173976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralScribe/pseuds/FeralScribe
Summary: Caleb and Molly say their goodbyes as the carnival prepares to leave town. Caleb has brought Molly a little something special to show how much he's going to miss them.The conclusion tothesetwostories in a short modern AU.





	Until the Carnival Comes Back to Town

Caleb checks on the small bouquet in his passenger seat again. He wants them to be perfect for Molly, especially since this is the last they’ll be seeing of each other for a while. They’re supposed to meet up for breakfast soon. Caleb is sad that Molly has to leave right when they were getting to know each other better. Thus is the life of a traveling performer, however, and at least they can call each other.

A call comes in from Molly right as Caleb is stopped at a red light. He puts his phone on speaker. “Hello?”

“Hi Caleb.” Molly sounds frustrated.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh, there was a problem and I can’t make it to breakfast. Everything’s fine it’s just… _someone_ forgot to confirm how long we were allowed to stay here and now we have to get going in less than an hour.” They pause. Caleb can picture them glaring at the guilty party before returning to the phone. “I’m so so sorry. I really wanted to see you one last time.”

Caleb glances over at the flowers. “I can come to you, though. Just to say goodbye. Where are you?”

“Oh, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s okay. I really want to. I er…I have something for you.”

Their smile is audible. “Really? Aw, Caleb…”

The Traveling Carnival of Curiosities is parked in the theater lot, a row of tour buses all with the same logo printed on the side. Molly is standing outside one of them. Caleb pulls into a nearby space. He puts the flowers behind his back and holds up the bag he procured on the way there.

“I brought breakfast doughnuts,” he says.

Molly is already jogging over, a big smile on their face. “Thank you, Caleb.”

“And, um, I also got you these.” Caleb presents the bouquet. As he had hoped, Molly’s jaw drops and their eyes light up. “Just a little something to say ‘I’m going to miss you’,” Caleb explains.

“Oh, Caleb, they’re beautiful.” They sniff the flowers then take a better look at them. They gasp. “Holy shit! They match my tattoos! _You got me flowers that match my tattoos!_ ” Molly squeals in delight, their tail doing little twirls in the air as they prance on the spot. It’s so adorable Caleb can barely contain his joyous laughter.

Caleb taps his head. “I have a good memory.” They weren’t a perfect match, but Caleb had spent an hour at the local florist's picking out an assortment that at least resembled the garden of ink on Molly’s arm.

Molly flings themself at Caleb and gives him a big hug. “Caleb you’re an absolute _darling_ , I _love_ them!”

One of the troupe’s performers, the fire dancer, calls out from a window in the nearest bus. “Mol-ly’s got a su-gar dad-dy!” she teases in a sing-song voice.

“Orn-na’s fuck-ing jeaaa-looous!” Molly sing-songs back. They kiss Caleb on the cheek. “This is the best gift anyone has ever given me. …Well, okay, my Tarot deck was a nice gift and technically Gustav paid for half my tattoos in the first place, but this is the sweetest, _most thoughtful_ gift I’ve ever gotten. Thank you thank you _thank you_.” They squeeze him tight. “Gods, I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too, Molly.” Caleb returns Molly’s peck on the cheek. “I’m only a phone call or text away if you need me.”

“Ugh, it’s not the same.”

“I know. We’ll see each other again though, _ja?_ ”

“Yeah.” Molly nuzzles Caleb’s shoulder then releases their embrace. A tear sparkles on the edge of their eyelashes. “If we’re going to be in the area you’ll be the first to know.”

Caleb smiles. “Sounds good.” He leans forward and kisses Molly with all the affection he can muster. Molly throws their arms around his neck again to kiss him back with equal fervor. Caleb can feel his heart already yearning to have Molly back so they can spend proper time together. It’s a bittersweet sensation, since he knows it will happen someday but he doesn’t know when. He redoubles his efforts in his kiss.

“Molly,” another voice calls out from the buses. “We can leave you here if you want.”

Molly doesn’t answer. They stay locked with Caleb until both of them need to breathe. “I could stay…” they murmur.

Caleb touches his forehead to Molly’s. “I would love that, but you have your responsibilities and I have mine. You have to go off and have adventures so you can come back and tell me about them.”

Molly chuckles softly and presses another kiss to Caleb’s lips. “I’ll send you loads of pictures.”

“I’d like that,” Caleb says with another kiss of his own.

It takes five more kisses before Molly lets Caleb go. “Thank you again for my flowers,” they say, clutching the bouquet to their chest.

“You are very welcome. Thank you for being you.”

Molly grins. “See you when I see you.”

Caleb nods. “See you when the carnival comes back to town.” He makes sure Molly gets their doughnuts then pats them on the arm. Molly backs away so they can wave at him. Caleb blows them a little kiss. “Run along, you.”

It looks like Molly is about to run back into Caleb’s arms instead when the voice calls out again. “You’re either coming with us or you’re finding your own way to Hupperdook!”

Molly flicks their tail in annoyance. They’re all smiles for Caleb though. “Goodbye, Caleb.”

“Goodbye, Mollymauk.”

To make it easier, Caleb gets back in his car. Even then, he watches Molly hop into the bus, face buried in their flowers. Caleb has a few ideas of how to surprise them when they come back. Until then, he will savor the look on Molly’s face when he gave them their farewell present.

Caleb thinks back to Molly’s Tarot reading the previous day, particularly to the Lovers card. With the memory of Molly’s eyes and smile in his heart, Caleb has no doubt that the prediction will come true.

**Author's Note:**

> As the author, I guarantee these two got a happy ending. <3
> 
> Please leaves kudos and comments, and if you want to support my work even more you can find me on Ko-fi under the same name!


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